Russia orders new cuts in the number of British diplomats, escalating a diplomatic war with the West over the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain.
Russia ordered new cuts Friday in the number of British envoys in the country, escalating a dispute with the West over the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain. The massive expulsion of diplomats on both sides has reached a scale unseen even at the height of the Cold War.
Two dozen countries, including the U.S. and many EU nations, and NATO ordered out more than 150 Russian diplomats this week in a show of solidarity with Britain over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter that London blamed on Russia.Moscow has vehemently denied involvement in the nerve agent attack and announced Thursday that it would expel the same number of diplomats from each nation.
The Russian Foreign Ministry further escalated its response Friday, saying it has ordered Britain to reduce the number of its diplomats in Moscow to the level that Russia has in London. That exact number wasn't immediately clear.
The ministry said it summoned the British ambassador to hand him a protest over the "provocative and unsubstantiated actions by Britain, which instigated the expulsion of Russian diplomats from various nations for no reason." It gave London one month to reduce its diplomatic personnel in Russia.
Commenting on the Russian move, a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said "it's regrettable but in light of Russia's previous behaviour, we anticipated a response."
"However, this doesn't change the facts of the matter: the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable," she said. "Russia is in flagrant breach of international law and the Chemical Weapons Convention and actions by countries around the world have demonstrated the depth of international concern."
Speaking to reporters Friday in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that "Russia didn't start any diplomatic wars," and "remains open for developing good ties."
He added that Russia has called a meeting of the international chemical weapons watchdog next week to press for an "unbiased and objective investigation."
On Thursday, Russia summoned the U.S. ambassador to announce the closure of the American consulate in St. Petersburg and the expulsion of 60 U.S. diplomats in a tit-for-tat response to Washington's move to order 60 Russians out and shut the Russian consulate in Seattle.
An Associated Press reporter on Friday saw U.S. consulate staff carrying boxes from the building in St. Petersburg and loading them into a van. Several mini-vans drove out of the consulate while security also detained a man who threw a Starbucks cup at the building.
Some passers-by near the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg cheered the expulsions.
"Let them get out of here," said 61-year-old retiree Viktor Fedin. "You won't put Russia on its knees."
Others were more cautious, worried that the closures would affect visa processing for Russians.
"The Russian government has to respond to the hostile actions against Russia," said 32-year-old researcher Yelena Bogomazova. "But the escalation is bad. The closure of the consulate will make it difficult for people to get U.S. visas, they will have to go to Moscow."
After Russia expelled several dozens of U.S. diplomats, the waiting list for U.S. visa applications in Russia has increased to weeks, if not months. The U.S. embassy said it was unable to process visa applications faster because of the staff shortage.